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Actually, through the wonder of emulators you can play Wii games in as High a resolution your machine can handle.

Emulation is no longer possible for new consoles. The last console for which a feasible emulator could exist (and in fact does) is probably the Wii.

Emulation requires that the emulating machine be several times faster than the emulated machine, because there is effort required in translating the original assembly code to the target processor's code. For older consoles, this isn't a problem. But consider emulating something like the Xbox 360: a tri-core 3.2 GHz PowerPC. In order to emulate one of the cores of such a system, you need to have a CPU that is several times faster than 3.2 GHz, even with advanced optimizing recompilation.

Such systems do not exist. It comes down to the fact that computers are not getting faster, but getting more parallel instead. Emulation of a serial instruction stream cannot be parallelized in software.

People generations from now will be able to play Contra but not Call of Duty Modern Warfare.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Dolphin, the Wii Emulator for PC ( http://www.dolphin-emu.com/ ) which allows for users to play games at higher resolutions (720p/1080p) . Most games look jaw droppingly amazing using the textures already available on Wii discs. I wouldn't mind the successor to the Wii having tighter controls and HD games.

No idea.

well maybe, http://www.dolphin-emu.com/ but I've never used it, don't know if it works, and don't play those game genres (and I have a wii anyway if I did want to...)

As said in some posts above, the game is actually rendered in 3D but at a fixed angle to make it appear to be a 2D platformer. Therefore, it does show off the emulator prowess very much although not the best example. You should see Wind Waker when it's upscaled and that's just a gamecube game:

http://www.dolphin-emu.com/images/photoalbum/album_1/win.jpg
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/7384/windwaker1280x9608xqcsawx8.jpg

Personally I think the similarities between the Gamecube and Wii is what made it so easy to emulate compared to other systems where it was a completely different architecture than the previous generation. This is clearly why the gamecube and Wii emulation are being developed alongside eachother and compatibility appears to be similar for both systems.

I'm not aware of it even being used for piracy. I have the Homebrew Channel installed and it's great fun to play a few things on, plus occasionally turn the Wii into a media player.

IIRC it can be used to play out-of-region games. Which is a GOOD thing.

What exactly do they have to gain here?

Wii Disc Dumper can be used to rip ISOs, which can be run in Dolphin, the Gamecube/Wii emulator: http://www.dolphin-emu.com/faq.php?cat_id=1 So that could justify Nintendo's concern about users running homebrew software, but I don't think the Wii's target audience (i.e. "casual" gamers) know about such things. And besides, it's not like there's many Wii games worth pirating. Like I actually must have that copy of Celebrity Sports Showdown.

The downloads page states that you have to register and log in before you can download Dolphin, and the registration page states that you have to agree to a non-disclosure agreement before you can register. Why is that?

The downloads page states that you have to register and log in before you can download Dolphin, and the registration page states that you have to agree to a non-disclosure agreement before you can register. Why is that?

The downloads page states that you have to register and log in before you can download Dolphin, and the registration page states that you have to agree to a non-disclosure agreement before you can register. Why is that?

Wrong. Dolphin is already playing two or three Wii games perfectly.

Dolphin is a Gamecube and Wii emulator. Gamecube compatibility looks decent and Wii compatibility is growing.

http://www.dolphin-emu.com/news.php

There is a Wii emulator out already. I submitted a story last week, but as usual....

http://www.dolphin-emu.com/

That is mostly on topic. There is a new Open Source wii emulator out that runs in both x86 and x64 windows. It was initially just a gamecube emulator, but it now emulates several wii titles, and shows perfect graphics until it realizes you have no wiimote, for which there is currently no software interface, either.

But still, a wii emulator is ALREADY OUT that shows graphics, and it's OPEN SOURCE (now)!

http://www.dolphin-emu.com/

However unsurprising it is, this is the side of Nintendo that has always been there. I buy tons of their stuff, and no other company consistently produces innovative games, but they've always had an overactive corral of lawyers, and have spearheaded efforts to do far worse--such as outlaw sales of used copies and rentals in Japan, just to name some of their even more egregious efforts.